«وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ»
And for you there is life in just retaliation.
This phrase from Qurʾān 2:179 is short but far-reaching. Retaliation seems to involve punishment, yet its just institution can protect life by deterring murder and restraining cycles of private vengeance. The word ḥayāh (حياة), life, conveys the positive objective.
Rather than stating only that one killing might prevent another, the expression places the preservation of life at the centre. The effect comes from concise, comprehensive expression, not from the need to posit a missing constituent.